The Heron's Nest: End of era as Nick Micozzie decides to step down

Micozzie has represented the 163rd District in the state House for more than three decades.

The Republican last year was named to head the majority chairman of the powerful House Transportation Committee, and was crucial in the battle to get that massive $2.3 billion transportation package through the Legislature.

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Just last Friday Micozzie was at Secane Train Station with Gov. Tom Corbett again delivering the goods - the OK for a massive expansion of the station.

The Republican is probably best known as a guy who was not in the least bit shy about delivering for his constituents. Simply put, Nick Micozzie brought home the bacon. Whether it was WAMS or redevelopment money, Upper Darby, Aldan and William Penn School District always got their fair share. And Micozzie is the reason why.

A few years back when the Upper Darby School District was up in arms over a proposal to make drastic changes in the curriculum - cutting art, music and library in addtion to staff cuts - it was Micozzie who found the money needed to stave off disaster.

The move means the end of an era in Upper Darby politics at the state level.

Longtime state Rep. Mario Civea, who likewise represented the 164th district in the township for decades, stepped down a few years ago and won a seat on County Council.

Civera could see the handwriting on the wall, in a changing demographic in the district.

Now Micozzie is hanging up his hat as well.

That’s a lot of clout that benefited the citizens of Upper Darby and Delaware County in Harrisburg.

It will be very tough to replace.

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IN PRAISE OF DELIVERING THE NEWS

I’m not used to fielding compliments at the newspaper, especially when it comes to delivery.

When people call the newspaper to talk about delivery, it’s not usually good news. In general, not that many people need to talk to us when things are going good. It’s when things are bad that the phone lines usually light up.

Maybe we’ve had a problem with the press and deliveries are late.

Maybe it’s a driving rain and many of the deliveries are sitting soaked out on someone’s lawn.

Each day we get calls from someone who did not get their paper.

In this winter of our discontent, I get calls just about every day from readers who lament that they must wander out into the elements - including this thing called the “polar vortex” - to retrieve their paper.

One thing you must realize about our local, longtime readers. You need to put an accent over that word “longtime.”

The truth is our demographic when it comes to our print audience is an older person. Most have been reading the paper for decades, or as they inevitably remind me, “since it was the Chester Times.”

Like me, they don’t have much use for this cold weather.

Add in snow and ice, and many of them don’t want to venture out of the house, and that includes to get their daily dose of Delco news in the Daily Times.

All of which is why I’ve been delighted in the past two weeks of this brutal cold to hear from several customers who wanted to sing the praises of one of our carriers.

His name is Carl Bartholomew.

Phyllis Raymond lives in Swarthmore. She’s been reading the Daily Times for decades. In short, it is part of her morning ritual. She wouldn’t consider starting her day without it.

Unless Mother Nature intercedes.

Phyllis is in her 80s. She doesn’t want to go outside and risk life and limb in this weather, even to get her treasured Daily Times.

Enter Carl Bartholomew.

“He’s just wonderful,” Phyllis told me this morning.

A lot of carries simply drop the paper on the sidewalk or driveway. Not Carl. He knows his customers, and he knows many of them are unable to deal with snow and ice.

So he puts their coveted newspaper in their front door, or someplace they can get it without having to venture out in the elements.

We are going to get a slight break today, with the temperature going above 40 for the first time in weeks. But temperatures are going to go right back off the cliff overnight, and we are due to be back in the single digits tomorrow.

These days we don’t spent that much time talking about our print product.

The buzz in the industry is about digital, as it should be. That’s where our future is.

People like Phyllis Raymond are part of our past. So is Carl Bartholomew.

As we careen toward our future, here’s to noting a couple of very important parts of our present - and past. Thanks for reading, Phyllis.

Specifically, it is shaping up to be a fascinating election season here in Delaware County and across Pennsylvania.

That’s in no small part due to the guy who will be sitting at the top of the Republican ticket. That would be Gov. Tom Corbett, whose poll ratings are in the basement.

What is interesting is how the local GOP will react to the governor, who has indicated he intends to spend a lot more time here in the crucial Philly suburbs.

Just Friday he made a stop at the Secane Train Station to announce a major improvement project, the result of one of the very few sucesses of his first-term agenda, that massive $2.3 billion transportation package.

There is a guy here in Delco that Corbett should become best friends with. That would be County Council Chairman Tom McGarrigle, who is the GOP endorsed candidate for the open 26th District state Senate seat created by the retirement of longtime Sen. Ted Erickson.

Before there was “in again, out again Finnegan,” before a “ring-tailed howitzer,” there was this common refrain in Philly hoops.

It wasn’t a basket, it was a “Gola goal.”

Today there is a huge hole in the Philly hoops world. Tom Gola is gone.

From his sterling career at La Salle, where he was an MVP on teams that won both the NCAA and NIT titles, to leading the Philadelphia Warriors to an NBA title, to a distinguished career in city government, Tom Gola was a Philadelphia treasurer.

Gola died on Sunday.

How good was Gola? In his four years at La Salle, his team won 102 of 121 games.

He also still holds the NCAA career mark for rebounds at 2,201. Despite the advances in the game - and the athletes - no one has approached Gola’s mark.

After his sterling college and NBA career, Gola returns to his alma mater as head basketball coach. In 1968-69, he led the Explorers to a 23-1 mark with a squad featuring Kenny Durrett. It is believed by man to be the best team in city history, but it was ineligble to take part in the NCAA tourney because of sanctions imposed on the school during the reign of former coach Jim Harding. They still wound up ranked No. 2 in the nation.